The Disappearing Role of Education Finance Policies in Higher Education Access: Panel Data Analysis of 21 Asia-Pacific Countries in a Global Setting

Abstract

This chapter investigates the relationship between educational finance policy and college access in Asian and Pacific countries (a broader group than the stricter definition of Asia-Pacific used in Chap. 1), compared with the global trends. The author uses panel data models to analyze the 9-year data (1998–2006) of the 98 countries worldwide and the 21 Asian and Pacific countries, respectively, to explore whether education finance policies have promoted college access, after controlling for national economy, basic education, and population characteristics. It finds that for the 98 countries, public expenditure per secondary student as percentage of GDP per capita bears a significant, positive association with tertiary enrollment ratios and that public spending as percentage of GDP and public expenditure per tertiary student as a percentage of GDP per capita are not significant predictors for college enrollment. However, the impact of all the three kinds of public education expenditures on college access disappeared for the 21 Asian and Pacific countries. The growth of national average income can explain the higher education expansion in the region.